Category Archives: hacking

The hacking of exchanges and relentless attacks from financial powers have, in the short run, adversely affected the price of Bitcoin. However, once the news about these adverse effects fades, investors will be able to turn their focus to several bright ongoing developments.

What Doesn’t Kill Bitcoin Makes It Stronger

The recent spate of crypto exchange hacks, ongoing regulatory issues, and reports of an investigation into possible price manipulation have sent the price of Bitcoin – and nearly every other cryptocurrency – tumbling. Despite these setbacks, the growing consensus is that, given Bitcoin’s inherent resiliency, developments taking place in both technical and financial arenas will enable Bitcoin’s value to retake its ascending trajectory with even greater intensity.

For example, frequent exposure to hacking will eventually make Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies immune to such attacks. As Forbesput it, hacking may be adversely affecting Bitcoin in the short term, but in the future, the cryptocurrency will rise stronger as a result. In this regard, Christian Ferri, President and CEO of BlockStar, declared:

As in every technology, hacking will be painful for some in the short term; but it will be a major driver in strengthening the crypto ecosystem, making it more secure, which is key for mass adoption.

For example, NASDAQ is planning to launch a futures market for cryptocurrencies. In fact, the stock exchange has already joined forces with Gemini, a digital asset exchange, to improve market surveillance to detect market manipulation and fraudulent trades. Additionally, a NASDAQ-powered cryptocurrency exchange platform – DX.Exchange – will be launched sometime this month.

In parallel, The New York Timesreports that ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is working on its own online trading platform that will allow large Wall Street investors to trade cryptocurrencies.

Goldman Sachs is already ahead of the curve, having begun offering clients the ability to trade Bitcoin futures via one of its New York desks last month. According to The New York Times:

Goldman will begin using its own money to trade Bitcoin futures contracts on behalf of clients. It will also create its own, more flexible version of a future, known as a non-deliverable forward, which it will offer to clients.

Bitcoin Transactions Becoming Cheaper and Faster

On the technical side, Bitcoin has already advanced significantly in solving a key issue – scalability. Technological improvements that include SegWit, Lightning Network, and Atomic Multi-Path Payments over Lightning, and now Bitcoin Core 0.16.0, are already solving the issue of scalability and transaction fees costs.

Recently, Bitcoin enthusiasts celebrated the launch of Bitcoin Core 0.16.0, which among novel features, introduced full support for SegWit. Prominent Bitcoin exchanges, such as Coinbase and Bitfinex immediately started to implement SegWit and, as a result, transaction fees are now lower and faster, thus facilitating near-instantaneous low-value Bitcoin payments. At the present time, nearly 40% of all Bitcoin transactions are processed using SegWit.

In addition to SegWit, many exchanges are using a new technique to increase efficiency – batching transactions. Batching further increases the efficiency of Bitcoin transactions by over 75 percent by clustering multiple outputs into a single transaction.

For a digital currency that has “died” 300 times and counting, Bitcoin’s future is looking pretty bright, indeed. Innovative techniques are making Bitcoin transactions more efficient, and its exposure to hacking attempts will make it stronger. Lastly, major financial institutions are becoming increasingly interested in trading Bitcoin. These are crucial factors that are amalgamating to drive Bitcoin’s value to new highs.

What do you think are the main factors that will eventually drive Bitcoin’s value higher? Let us know in the comments below.

Hancock Regional Hospital in Indiana is the latest victim of a ransomware attack by hackers who are demanding a payment in bitcoins.

Technology is definitely a two-edged blade. The lightning-fast speed offered by the internet allows for people to connect instantly with each other from all over the world. Movies can be streamed, video conferences attended, and online games played due to the innovations made in tech over the last twenty years. On the flip side, such connectivity also allows criminals to target individuals and businesses from anywhere in the world just by the use of some malicious code. The latest example of this is a hospital in Indiana that has suffered a ransomware attack.

Hospital Held Hostage

Hackers making ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly commonplace. Sadly, even hospitals are now being targeted by criminals. Hancock Regional Hospital, located in Indiana, revealed that they had been attacked last Thursday evening.

Hospital employees were aware of the attack immediately. However, hackers were able to affect the hospital’s internal operating systems, email system, and electronic health records. Hospital officials stress that no patient information was compromised. The hackers demanded a sum of bitcoins to release the systems, but the hospital has refused to pay. (The total amount of the demanded ransom has not been released.)

Using Pen and Paper

The hospital initially had an IT incident response company look into the matter, but it turns out the attack was beyond their scope. Now the FBI has been called in.

Fortunately, the hospital is still able to function despite the ransomware attack. However, they are now forced to keep pen and paper records.

Hancock Regional Hospital has been the victim of a criminal act by an unknown party that attempted to shut down out operations via our information systems by locking our computer network and demanding payment for a digital key to unlock it. Unfortunately this sort of behavior is widespread in the world today, and we had the misfortune to be next on the list. We are working closely with an IT incident response company and national law enforcement. At this time, we are deep into the analysis of the situation and see no indication that patient records have been removed from our network. In addition to excellent performance by our IT Department, our clinical teams have performed exceptionally well, and patient care has not been compromised. Our doors are open at Hancock Regional Hospital.

A Growing Problem

Hancock Regional Hospital is the latest in a long line of businesses and entities that have suffered a ransomware attack. Credit agency Equifax was hit with a $2.3 ransom demand back in September. Then the Sacramento Regional Transit system was attacked in November, with the hackers demanding a single bitcoin in ransom. Last December saw the county government of Mecklenburg, North Carolina, having their server files held for a 2 bitcoin ransom.

It’s a given that ransomware attacks are going to continue. The fact that every government agency, business, and health care facility are all connected online provides an abundance of victims that hackers can target, no matter where they’re located in the world.

Do you think the hospital should pay the ransomware demand? Will such attacks increase in frequency in the near future? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

With the recent rise of ransomware attacks targeting corporations worldwide, law firms are taking what many are deeming ‘appropriate’ preemptive security measures.

WannaCry 2.0

In the last couple of years, many corporations and businesses have been affected by ransomware, malware and other hacking attacks. This year hackers were able to successfully attack several big corporations and government agencies. In May 2017, hackers were able to infect hundreds of thousands of computers with an advanced malware called ‘WannaCry’. According to cybersecurity experts, the hackers were able to infect over 300,000 computers worldwide. The countries that were the most affected by the attacks were Russia, Taiwan, and Ukraine, however, the attack was also able to infect western countries.

In Germany, the biggest railway operator Deutsche Bank was also a victim of the WannaCry ransomware. The British National Health Service was also one of the major victims of the WannaCry ransomware. WannaCry was able to slip into computers through phishing attacks and malicious files that users downloaded. The advanced ransomware is able to completely encrypt the hard drives of the computer that it infects. After the ransomware successfully encrypts the hard drives and all files, it will ask the victim to pay a ransom in Bitcoin in order to decrypt the hard drive and make accessible again for the victim. IT experts are warning users not to pay the ransom since there is no guarantee that the hard drive will actually decrypt after the ransom was paid.

Prepared for the Worst but Hoping for the Best

After the devasting WannaCry attack, many corporations and government agencies took major steps in order to upgrade their cybersecurity infrastructure. According to a recent article by Business Insider, several law firms are preemptively preparing for such attacks by opening up Bitcoin wallets.

The president of cybersecurity and IT of LogicForce, John Sweeny, stated that LogicForce will soon open a Bitcoin wallet, in case they become victims of ransomware. Sweeny also stated following regarding the whole situation:

We are predicting there are going to be more sophisticated attempts to intrude at firms that work with highly visible clients whose IP or business information is extremely valuable,

IT experts are advising big corporations and government agencies to invest more in cybersecurity and be more careful with the software that they install in their networks.

What are your thoughts on the WannaCry attack? Do you think that more law firms should open Bitcoin wallets in order to pay the ransom on time? Let us know in the comments below!

US Regulators are scrutinizing the Swift payment network in light of the recent heists which have taken place. That is not a complete surprise, as there is plenty of cause for concern. Things have gotten so dire; the US regulators have warned banks about more imminent threats to their cyber security.

Ever since the various attacks made against banks connected to the Swift network became public knowledge, there has been a lot of concern among financial regulators. Albeit the hackers used smaller banks to gain access to the Swift network, regulators feel the interbank protocol is no longer safe.

Swift Is Not Adequately Protecting Its Partners

Moreover, they feel all connected banks should do their due diligence and fortify cyber security as they see fit. This is a lot easier said than done, though, considering how smaller banks do not have the budget nor staff to counter these cyber threats in an efficient manner.

Several vulnerabilities have been exposed during these breaches. Given the diversity of the Swift system, patching all of these critical flaws will take a lot of time and effort. Until these fixes are implemented, the protocol remains vulnerable to attack, and it is not unlikely new attacks will follow.

If it were up to Swift officials, however, they would rather cut off smaller banks with subpar security standards. Ever since the small bank breaches were announced, the interbank network has done everything they can to put the blame on their partners. This has caught the attention of regulators all over the world, and especially in the United States.

Note from the author: It remains unclear who is the “guilty party” in these incidents. The investigations are still ongoing as we speak.

The US Federal Financial Examination Council issued a warning to all Swift-connected banks. This assortment of banking regulators strongly feels Swift cannot protect its partners in an adequate manner, and banks should take matters into their own hands.

But that is not all, as the FFIEC warned how unauthorized transactions will cause losses to the originating bank, as well as result in compliance breaches penalties. So far, the FBI has been investigating various security breaches. However, regulators and banks are on high alert ever since the attempted heist in April of 2016.

Do you think there will be more attacks against the Swift interbank network? Let us know in the comments below!

According to a report from the Federal Reserve, the financial institution has faced over 300 cyber attacks between 2011 and 2015. This number is quite significant, but it is not surprising in the last, as hackers have taken a liking to attacking financial institutions.

Although the report is only available in heavily redacted format, Reuters has managed to extract some interesting details. In several dozen occasions, somebody managed to access information that was beyond their level of authorization. Most of these attacks were executed by hackers and spies, though, rather than people working for the Federal Reserve.

Federal Reserve Is A Popular Target

It is important to keep in mind this report only serves as a representation of what has really gone on behind the scenes. Financial institutions such as the Federal Reserve are constantly under threat. However, the report only mentions attacks affecting the Board of Governors, rather than the privately owned branches.

Malicious code, unauthorized access, and information disclosure were the most common threats to the Board of Governors.Interestingly enough, the Federal Reserve’s national cybersecurity team greatly exceed the number of reports by the local cybersecurity team.

In total, 310 reports were filed by the Board of Governors between 2011 and 2014. Nearly half of those attacks were labeled as hacking attempts, although some reports were not classified under a specific banner. Moreover, there have been eight information breaches between 2011 and 2013, all of which occurred through malicious code used by hackers.

Espionage is a factor as well through these incidents, as four incidents were classified under this moniker. Two of these attacks resulted in data being stolen, although the report doesn’t mention specific details. The Federal Reserve report mentioned an additional 51 information disclosure incidents.

What are your thoughts on the Federal Reserve not disclosing the full truth about cyber attacks? Let us know in the comments below!

The Newly launched Humble Book Bundle is all about hacking, programming, and Bitcoin this time. A lot of valuable books can be picked up for a very fair price, and cryptocurrency enthusiasts can pay in Bitcoin as well.

New Humble Book Bundle Is Quite Appealing

Every now and then, there is a new Humble Book Bundle, which combines various books on a particular topic and offers them at a very low price to support charity. This week’s bundle is focusing on hacking, programming, and there is a Bitcoin book as well. Especially this latter one is kind of interesting, as it will give people a better understanding of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Bitcoin for the Befuddled, as this book is called, was released back in November of 2014, and some of the information might be slightly outdated. However, this book is mostly focusing on the core principles of Bitcoin, the history of cryptocurrency, and includes details on the blockchain as well. It is good to see such a book as part of the Humble Book Bundle for sure. Keeping in mind how the regular ebook would cost US$19.95, paying the full price for this book bundle will still save interested users money, and they will get a lot of other good books as well.

Hacking is the primary focus for this edition of the Humble Book Bundle, and there are various books on Python, Linux, and privacy to be found in there. All in all, this entire offering has a little bit of everything for everyone and is a must-have for anyone who is fascinated by the concept of cybersecurity, Bitcoin, or just wants to learn more about Python and Linux.

One of the books also talks about how the analyze malware, and how enthusiasts can “dissect” malicious software to their heart’s desire. Given the mounting threat of malware, crypto-ransomware, and the lackluster cybersecurity employed by most individual and enterprise users these days, such a book could turn out to be quite valuable for aspiring security researchers.

Last but not least, this entire Humble Book Bundle can be paid for in Bitcoin. There have been some issues with Bitcoin not being accepted by Humble Bundle in the past, although that is always decided upon by the people creating the bundle, and not the platform. It is positive to see Bitcoin payments enabled for this particular offering, especially because there is a Bitcoin book included.

Will you purchase the new Humble Book Bundle? Let us know in the comments below!

Various companies all over the world are looking to come up with new methods to prevent fraud from taking place in the financial industry. While plastic card payments are a major threat when it comes to fraud, there are other factors to take into consideration as well. Social engineering is playing an ever-increasing role of importance these days, and Pindrop wants to prevent companies from being scammed over the phone. Bitcoin users can benefit from these efforts as well.

Pindrop Raises Another US$75m in Funding

Preventing individuals and companies from falling victim to fraud and scamming attempts is important in the world today. Whereas most people think of hacking attempts as an online threat, the scope of this word is much broader than anticipated. Social engineering, for example, is also considering as a form of hacking, although it is quite different in nature.

Whenever somebody receives a phone call from an individual or company, it is nearly impossible to tell whether or not they are legitimate. Unlike peer-to-peer meetings with people, a phone call is making it so much harder to distinguish between a legitimate outreach or someone trying to take advantage of a certain person.

Pindrop wants to address this issue, as it analyzes both the caller metadata and audio of every conversation taking place. Thanks to its in-house technology, the screening process is yielding good results in distinguishing hacking attempts from legitimate calls by a service provider. It goes without saying such a technology would be of great value to a lot of financial players.

So far, various insurance companies, retailers, and even three of the major US banks are using the Pindrop technology. Over 360 million calls have been screened so far, as the technology verified the phone number used to make the call, and evidence of filters or packet loss. While each of these things could occur during a legitimate call as well, such details point towards a fraudulent call in most of the cases.

It is important to note Pindrop will not reject any calls flagged as potentially fraudulent, but it will notify the operator about the risk and give them a chance to ask additional questions. With this additional round of funding, Pindrop wants to expand on an international scale and develop new products in the future.

Interesting Technology For Bitcoin Companies

The security of any company can only be guaranteed if the support staff is doing an excellent job. Unfortunately, humans will not be able to work at 100% of their potential at all times. This is where solutions such as Pindrop will be of great help as it automates the process of identifying potentially fraudulent calls.

Bitcoin companies could make use of this technology as well. Especially when considering how Bitcoin puts the end user in full control of their finances at all times, making sure funds is not misspent should be at the top of the priority list. Plus, Bitcoin companies would be among the frontrunners to embrace such call-screening technology, which will bring more legitimacy to the digital currency ecosystem.

What are your thoughts on the technology being developed by Pindrop? Is it something Bitcoin companies could and should use? Let us know in the comments below!

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